An Indomitable Ember
by Festoon Panda
Summary: Memories were the only thing that seemed to be positive these days. After Ruby turned on us, our team was never the same. About a couple weeks after the events of Breach, Ruby seemed to change in her actions and words. Is she being controlled? This is my first time writing so constructive criticism is welcome!
1. Chapter 1

**Two weeks after the events of Breach(Yang POV)**

"Ruby, I don't know what's going on with you but you haven't gone to class nor finished your homework!" I shouted as my hair started to flare. Ruby was cleaning Crescent Rose and looked up at me with a bored look.

"Why don't you just leave me alone and flirt with some guys at a club." She responded as she turned her head back down and started to clean the bolt of her scythe. My hair grew even hotter while my vision started to get covered in a red mist.

"I'm your older sister! Don't you dare disrespect me like that! I am worried over your butt and all you're showing is disinterest!" I shrieked as Ember Celica started to protract. Ruby slowly stood up with a cold smirk on her face as she held her scythe to the ready.

"I think it's time I tell you a little something, Yang. You're not my sister anymore." She said in a deadpan voice as she slashed at me. I raised my gauntlet in defense but the force of the slash pushed me back a few feet. Not giving me any time to recover, Ruby sprinted at me and hit me in the stomach with the butt of the scythe, causing me to cough out blood. Realizing that I was shocked at what just happened, Ruby took advantage and started to slash me. Soon, more and more cuts started appearing on my body and blood started to weep out of the wounds. After what seemed like an eternity, I dropped on the floor and started to lose consciousness. I saw her jump out the window of our dorm without giving a look back. The last thought that went through my head was, 'Why Ruby? Why?'

**Weiss POV**

Yang opened her eyes slowly as she got adjusted to the bright light. 'Wait, I'm alive?' she thought as she started to look around the room. White ceiling, everything squeaky clean, curtains. Yup, she was in the infirmary. As Yang started to prop herself against the bed, two shadows loomed over her.

"Yang!" Blake and I yelled as we hugged her.

"Hey guys, ouch! Take it easy there." Yang said as Blake and I unraveled our arms. Our faces had a look of happiness but our eyes told a whole different story. "Guys, where's Ruby?" Yang asked quietly. We both looked at her with uneasy looks until Blake spoke up.

"Ruby...Ruby's gone. After we found you in the dorm on the ground, a bunch of the Beacon staff ran out to retrieve her, but to no avail. They were searching for her for a couple hours but they have classes to teach." Blake softly said with a hint of sorrow. Yang started to throw herself off the bed until both of our hands constricted her to where she was.

"Yang, you're not in any condition to be moving around. I know she's your sister, but in your state you'll hurt yourself even more." I explained as they struggled to pin me on the bed.

"She's right, you know." A voice called out. Professor Ozpin walked in with a cup of coffee and stared Yang down. "How are you feeling, Yang?" He inquired as he looked at her.

"It doesn't matter what I feel, we have to find Ruby!" Yang cried out as she shoved the arms holding her down. He sighed.

"I knew you would say that. Because of this...incident, I am putting Weiss in charge of what's left of your team to hunt down Ruby. Even though our Beacon Staff have tried looking for her, we cannot continue to do this because we have to teach our students. Therefore, I am giving you all the material you need for this assignment." He said as he proceeded to finish his coffee. My eyes widened in happiness and shock.

"Oh my God! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed but quickly grew serious because a question was nagging me. "When can we start?"

"As soon as you are ready, my dear." He replied as he turned around and walked out of the infirmary.

**Three days later**

An airship waited for us as we walked down the front entrance of Beacon. After triple checking to make sure that we had everything we need, we walked in and strapped down. The airship started to fly away, making Beacon look smaller and smaller.

"Alright guys, our first stop is the city." I explained as Blake and Yang leaned forwards, paying attention to what I was saying.

"Wait, why are we going there? It's not like we can just go up to every store and ask them if they've seen Ruby." Blake argued.

"Well, Yang has a contact in the city that would be more than willing to help us in our rescue. He has contacts that Beacon doesn't have so we have to stop by." Blake nodded her head in acceptance as they she leaned back in her seat.

* * *

"Boss! Boss! It's her!" A crony screamed as he ran towards Junior. Junior's face instantly turned into a deathly white color as he stared at the entrance of his club. Soon, the doors burst open as the trio walked in.

"Hey Junior, we need to talk." Yang shouted. He fearfully nodded and jogged up to us. Boy, this is gonna be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys and gals! Author here. Anyways, I'd like to thank you for reading my story! I know it's a little rough but this is my first time. I wrote this to not only better myself but to also have fun. Without further ado, here's the next chapter...**

"So Junior, have you seen this girl?" I questioned as I held up a picture of Ruby. In the picture she looked like the happiest girl in the world. However, Junior shook his head after giving a look.

"No, my workers don't look for small girls, especially huntresses. We are more focused towards the criminal side of contacts." Junior explained as he leaned back in his seat. Yang sighed explosively as she stood up. Soon sweat beads started appearing on his forehead. "Wait! Wait! I have heard reports of a trail of rose petals. I don't know if that has anything to do with the girl but it's something, right?" He nervous said.

"Wait, a rose trail?" Yang said as she banged her hands into the table in front of her, leaving hand dents in it. "Where does it lead off to?" Junior shook his head quickly.

"That's the thing. We don't know where it leads to, it just cuts off after the entrance of Emerald Forest."

"Guys, let's go." I said as I stood up to walk over to the exit. Yang and Blake quickly followed up with me. "Alright, we got our breadcrumb. Now we gotta just find more of them."

* * *

"Weiss, I think you should let me take lead because with my cat faunus traits, I can track better than a normal human." Blake said as we were lounging in the airship.

"Yeah, you're right, but that doesn't mean you are leader of this team." I warned. She nodded and was about to pull about _Ninjas of Love_ until the pilot announced that we arrived at our destination. She sighed with discontent but we all stood up and mentally prepared ourselves for what was to come.

"Hey guys, remember the first time we were here?" Yang asked as she smiled at the memory.

"Yeah. Initiation seems so long ago." Blake said as we started to walk into the forest.

"Hey, stop reminiscing! We gotta stay alert because there are dangerous grimms around here. Plus Blake, take lead." I said. We immediately formed a cohesive v-formation. However, our presence has not gone unnoticed. Soon, the roars of ursas, beowolves, and boarbatusks started to ring throughout the forest.

"We got company!" Yang yelled as she engaged her Ember Celica. We all pulled out our weapons as well. I steadied my Myrtenaster and rotated my dust canister to white. A group of beowolves jumped out and started to lunge out with their claws. However, we were ready.

My dust soon took affect as I summoned a glyph behind me. With this dust color I can propel myself in any direction. Without any hesitation I jump right into the glyph and engaged the enemy. Soon the sound of blood curdling screams, gunfire, and metal on bone filled the area. Yang was doing incredibly well, taking everything very calmly. She had a beowolf under one arm in a headlock while firing off shotgun rounds towards any grimm that approached her. Blake seemed to be a blur on the battlefield as she used her Semblance to distract grimm while cutting and shooting them down. While I on the other hand was using my glyphs and rapier to help out. I watched my teammate's backs and coordinated with them to establish attacks. After what seemed like hours, the horde finally stopped.

"Whoo! Now that was one hell of a workout!" Yang cheered as she stretched out her body.

"However, it's turning dark. We should set up camp here and set a fire." I said. Yang and Blake nodded their heads as we started to unload sleeping bags and food. After an amazing meal by yours truly, the three of us sat around the fire quietly. Yang was the first one to break the silence.

"I wonder how Ruby is doing." Yang said with a mournful expression. Blake patted her shoulder and reassured her that everything was going to be all right.

"That's what I've been thinking about today. What made Ruby act and talk like this? This is so unlike her and it seems like she adopted a whole new personality." I mused. "Did something happen to her during Breach?"

"Well she didn't have any major injuries on her. She had some bruises and a shallow cut on her arm." Yang replied.

"Do you remember what caused the cut?"

"Uh, I think it was while we were on the train. A sniper shot off a round but it only grazed her while she was giving her semblance a break."

"Was that bullet by any chance a dust bullet?" I slowly asked.

"I think so, I can't say for sure. It's been a while. I think the bullet had a green tracer."

_Wait, green tracer? Aren't green dust bullets illegal? Wait but I think I'm missing the point. Why are they illegal and what can they do? Damn, I don't remember._ I shook my head and responded to Yang. "I don't remember what green dust rounds do off the top of my head but I do remember that they are illegal and hard to obtain. If I do remember I'll tell you guys. Anyways, we gotta set up some night watches. Who wants to take first watch?"

"I'll do it." Blake volunteered as she pulled out _Ninjas of Love_ and flipped to where she left off. Yang volunteered for last watch, leaving me to do second watch.

"Night guys." Yang yawned as she crawled into her sleeping bag and promptly fell asleep. I too entered my sleeping bag and waited for sleep to come.

* * *

After a peaceful night, everybody quickly ate some breakfast and packed up the campsite. Soon, we were off again. After walking over hills, crevices, and the occasional grimm, we came across our second breadcrumb.

Blake stopped the group as she walked over to a tree stump and picked up something. In her hand was a shriveled rose petal. Yang and I quickly came up to her.

"I definitely think this is one of Ruby's petals because it has a slight human scent. However, this is pretty old so the scent is very faint. I can't say with 100% confidence but I think the trail leads towards the north." Blake explained as she placed the petal back on the stump.

"Wait, north? If we go any further north we'll end up in Desdian!" I exclaimed. Desdian was what everybody called the city of misery. Crime and death rates there were extremely high and illegal activity occurred everyday.

"It doesn't matter, we have to find Ruby." Yang quietly said as she shouldered her pack and started moving north. After Blake and I gave each other a glance, we caught up and walked with her. Besides, we're a team.

**I did take the liberty of making up a city. I did name it Desdian but kind of based it off of the word Disdain**


	3. Chapter 3

"Holy Oum, this place looks a lot better than I thought it would be." Blake breathed as we gazed our sights on Desdian. I guess all the rumors were false about how it was a dirty, polluted, and menacing city. From the outside it looked like a regular city. However, as soon as we walked into the city, we noticed something was a little off. On every civilians' face was a look of wariness that never seemed to ease up.

As we walked around the city to observe our surroundings, a strong arm took the three of us into an alley. As we were about to pull our weapons out, the person who pulled us put his arms out in the airand removed his hood.

"Woah woah woah! Don't kill me! I'm just trying to help you out!" He squealed.

"How can we trust you?" I snarled coldly as Myrtenaster was pulled out halfway from its sheath.

"You guys are sticking like a sore thumb because everybody can tell that you're huntresses. I'd recommend wearing a cape or something that'll cover your face." The guys said nervously. He was about our age and looked at our weapons with fear. I sighed.

"Guys, sheathe your weapons. He doesn't seem harmless. Thanks for giving us the tip." I said as I stuck my hand out. A Schnee always uses good manners. He timidly shook my hand and started looking around nervously.

"Hey look, I know this might sound weird because you guys just met me but you can stay with me and my mom. We can provide you with food and shelter. " He noticed our dubious looks and added, "I can explain why I'm doing this at my place."

I gave a look to both of my teammates. He was right about this being extremely weird. Blake gives me a hand signal that we should proceed with caution. "Alright, we'll come with you but we want that explanation."

He nodded energetically and motioned for us to follow him. We put on our hoods and proceeded to follow him. About 10 minutes outside the city was a community of friendly looking houses. He ushered us into his house and closed the door behind him. As we lifted off our hoods, the guy called out his mom and said that he was home. A lady in her prime age walked down the stairs and stopped right as she saw us.

"Caspian," she said in a very deliberate voice as she eyed our weapons, "who are they?"

"Well...haha...I kinda bumped into them and noticed that they weren't concealing themselves even though they were huntresses. I felt bad that they were walking around without knowing what's going on in the city."

She sighed but gave a small nod and then smiled at us. She proceeded to come down the stairs and introduced herself.

"Hi, my name is Arista and this is my son, Caspian. I wasn't expecting guests but please make yourselves comfortable."

"Sorry that we're intruding but Caspian did offer us shelter so we are extremely grateful for his offer." I apologized.

"Oh certainly! No problem at all. Take as much time as you need. I'll be in the kitchen making some snacks."

Caspian directed our trio into the living room and we all sat. Blake and Yang looked around their living room but I had my eyes locked onto Caspian.

"Hey, we're still waiting for the explanation you owe us."

He gave a big sigh while looking up at the ceiling. He turned his head back down and looked at all three of us.

"So you're pretty suspicious of why I'm doing this, which is understandable in your position. The reason why I pulled you into that alley was because you're huntresses. My dad is also a hunter but I haven't seen him in a long time." He closed his eyes for a moment and then continued. "As you know, Desdian is a crappy city. It's full of crime organizations lurking around and it's not exactly the nicest environment. Anyways, one day my dad was walking back home from a finished assignment until the criminal organization known as Contrivance beat him up. Sure my dad had his weapon on him but his aura was incredibly low and he was tired. I saw him taking droves of men down but eventually one of the guys shot a gun at him and he fell to the ground and got taken away. I was watching from inside the house but I was too scared to do anything. I told you this because I would like to ask you something." Caspian leaned towards us. "In exchange for the food and shelter, I want to check if my dad's alive and if he is, save him. I have no chance against the criminal organization that captured him but with you three huntresses, I might stand a chance."

I glanced at both Yang and Blake. "Hold on a second, you're telling us to infiltrate a criminal organization that we don't even know and risk our lives to see if your dad is alive? In exchange for food and shelter?" Caspian looked at the floor in embarrassment.

"Hehe...yeah."

"I'm in." Blake said as she stood up and stretched.

"Whoo hoo!" Yang cried out as she cracked her hands in anticipation. However, I was the only one that seemed to have not lost their head.

"Guys, if we take on this mission, it'll drive us away from our current mission. We don't have time to take any detours. Besides, what if the trail disappears?" I argued while giving them both a glare.

"Weiss, remember what he said? He said that his father was shot with a gun just like Ruby. This could be a connection and we can't afford to miss out on what could possibly give us a lead on where she is." Blake explained.

_Darn, she's right._ I mentally sighed and then turned my attention to Caspian. "We'll take up the mission. However, I have one question to ask you. Was the bullet that got shot at your dad a dust bullet?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. The bullet had a green tracer."

_Bingo! But wait, that damn green dust bullet!_ Before I could say anything else, Arista came in with a huge tray ladled with a variety of foods including...

"FISH!" Blake cheered as she swiped at a piece of salmon and started to nibble happily on it. Moments later, the whole room filled with the noise of happy munching and compliments of how good the food is. After we had our fill, I turned my attention to Arista to tell her what we were going to do.

"Excuse me Arista, but you have every right to know what we are going to do since we are using your house. We're going to infiltrate Contrivance and find your husband." She looked shocked for a second but slowly nodded her head.

"I know that Caspian put you up to this but I have to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you're doing. Even though you could lose your life, are you sure you want to? All of you are still so young."

"Ma'am," Blake said, "with all due respect, we are huntresses and are more than able to protect ourselves. Besides, it will help our main mission anyways."

"Well, if you say so. Anyways, I will be in my room if anybody needs me." With that said, she stood up and walked off to her aforementioned destination. After she left, Caspian started giving us a tour of the house and told us that the basement would be where we were going to stay. He left us three alone in the basement while we unpacked what we needed from our packs.

"Hey guys," Yang says, "doesn't he kinda remind you of Juane?"

"Now that I think about it, they do act alike in some ways." Blake giggled.

"Well, that's not really important at the moment. What we have to do now is get some rest. We need to scout out this whole city and study the structure of the Contrivance HQ. Nights out in five minutes." I ordered. Soon we all snuggled up in our sleeping bags and fell into an easy slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

A rooster crow pierced the silent sky of the morning, welcoming a new morning and three moaning huntresses.

"Ugh, I'm gonna shoot that rooster if it doesn't shut up." Yang moaned in her pillow as she turned in her sleeping bag. Blake and I moaned in agreement. After fifteen minutes, we managed to extricate ourselves from our comfortable sleeping bags and headed upstairs to grab a bite to eat before preparing to go out. The smell of pancakes grew stronger as we got closer and closer. Sure enough, Caspian was true to his word and was manning the skillet.

"Good morning!" He said without looking behind him. "Just take a seat anywhere. I'm almost done making breakfast. I hope you don't mind chocolate chip pancakes."

The three of us rushed over to a table and took our places as we waited for the goodness that Caspian was making. A minute later he brought over five enormous plates ladled with pancakes and gave each of us a plate. After we thanked him for breakfast, we quickly dug in and made the pancakes disappear just as quickly as it was given to us. Caspian's mouth dropped at the rate of how quickly we finished. While he stared at us dumbstruck, we proceeded to talk to him.

"Hey Caspian, like we said yesterday, we're going to check out Contrivance's HQ. However, we're going to need you and your knowledge on the city. You ready?"

"Yeah, just give me a sec." Caspian said as he started to cram pancakes down his throat. Ten minutes later the four of us were ready to head out. Arista managed to wake up right when we were about to leave the door and hugged Caspian.

"Please take care of my son when you're out there. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost him too." She said as she continued to strangle Caspian in her hug.

"We will Arista. I think you're choking him though..."

"Oh!" She let go of him and waved us off as we walked towards the city.

* * *

After walking in the city for a good half an hour, I quickly noticed that you had to have your guard up at all times. It seemed like everywhere you turned there was a camera, criminal, or a deal happening. We tried mimicking Caspian's movements by avoiding eye contact and making yourself as small as possible. After traversing many streets, Caspian elbowed me softly and whispered that we made it outside Contrivance's HQ. I made quick hand signs to warn Yang and Blake that we made it and to start checking to see if there were any weak points, guard detail, etc. Both of them gave me a short nod before wandering off. I pulled Caspian next to me and started whispering to him.

"Ok, my team is going to look around this HQ to check out details ranging from guard detail all the way to weak points. If we're going to save your father if he's in there, we have to do it in a way that's both the safest and the most stealthiest."

Caspian nodded his head. "Cool, but how long do you think we'll be here for?"

"Well, it's hard to say. Not only do I want a layout of this place, but I also want to form a plan of attack with my teammates. Give my team at least two days to just gather information. Also, do you know a person that might know the blueprints to this place?"

He shook his head. "It's hard to say. There's so many people that deal but you don't know whether to trust them or not. They'll put out ridiculous prices for something that could or could not be legitimate. I can look around but in the meantime, I think it would be safer to just do observations."

I mentally sighed but gave a small nod. For hours now, my team has been going around the area, watching the HQ. It seemed like there was no weak point in the construction of this place. However, we did manage to find some patterns to the security detail. After a tiring day, Caspian and I gathered Yang and Blake and headed to his house. However, I felt a cold sensation. Like somebody was following us.

* * *

About halfway between the city and Caspian's house, I halted the group. Blake and Yang seemed to catch on to why I stopped the group but Caspian was extremely confused.

"Uh, why did we just stop?"

"Because," I said loudly, "we were being followed."

From one of the trees, a man materialized. He chuckled as he pulled out a mechanical bo staff. The man was dressed in a trench coat and sported on black shades. Just looking at him, you could tell that he had a strong violent aura.

"Impressive, you managed to see through my cloaking. However, I'm afraid that I'm going to kill you all. Your presence outside the Contrivance HQ did not go unnoticed by me. If I kill this odd group and bring it over to HQ, I will be rewarded handsomely." He cackled as he jumped down from the tree. Soon, Yang, Blake, and I formed up in a v-formation and unsheathed our weapons.

"Such beautiful weapons, but are you skilled enough to use them?" He questioned as he suddenly appeared in front of Yang and roundhouse kicked her. She managed to block the kick just in time but the force of the kick sent her back a couple feet.

"Guys, I think his semblance is speed. We got to readjust to formation bravo." Blake and Yang nodded as we stood back to back. After training with Ruby, who also had speed semblance, we have the upper hand. The man backed up a couple steps and grinned.

"That's really cute guys, but do you think that sort of basic formation will be effective against me?"

He disappeared again and soon all of us felt something breathing down our backs. One swing from his bo staff sent us flying. He leaned against his staff, as if he was toying around with us.

"Come on, I don't have all day. Besides, I thought you guys would be a lot better."

Yang growled in frustration as she stood up first and started to engage him. She fired shells at him while closing up the distance between them. The man merely spun his staff elegantly and blocked all her shots. However, this distraction was enough to get her close to him. Soon, she started swinging her fists at him. Each punch she swung used a shell, causing more impact but to no avail. The man also blocked these as well, not even budging a centimeter. After a hail of punches, Yang started to get infuriated at how easily this man was defending himself and started to blaze up. Her hair started to flare and her eyes were getting covered in a red mist.

"Rghh!" Yang growled as her movement became faster. After a couple jabs, she faked a left hook and then scored an upper cut enhanced with a shotgun blast. He flew up in the air and while he was about to land, Yang grabbed both his feet, swung him in a circle, and then threw him into a tree.

He slowly got back onto his feet as he rubbed his chin."Ugh, I was not expecting this. Hmm, I guess I should stop toying around with you." He split his bo staff into two parts. The front half turned into a short sword while the other half turned into a brandistock(a short spear that has a trio of blades instead of one). We took this time to regroup and assess the situation again.

"He's one hell of a fighter" Yang panted as she took up her fighting stance.

"Which is why we're going to attack him simultaneously." I said as Myrtenaster's dust canisters revolved to the one I wanted. "He may be fast, but we can catch up to him. Remember what we did with the nevermore back at initiation? We're gonna do the same exact thing." Yang and Blake nodded.

"Oh ho! You think you can catch up to my speed? I'm interested. Show me what you got!"

"As you wish." I said with a smirk. Blake used Gambol Shroud's rope and strung it between two trees. As she pulled back the rope, I set a glyph behind it. After aiming the sling at the mysterious man, I told Yang to get in. She grinned as she hopped into the sling.

"One, two, three, launch!" I cried as Blake let go over the rope and me boosting the sling's speed with my glyph. Yang soon became a yellow blur as she zoomed towards the man.

"Oh shi...!" He screamed, noticing that there was not enough time to evade. Yang punched him directly in the face and then quickly grabbed it. A wall of rock was coming up in front of them so Yang quickly put the man in front of her and smashed the man into the wall. Blake and I quickly ran towards the site just to see Yang peacefully perched on a rock while the man was crushed from the impact of both Yang's fist and the wall.

"Is it safe to come out now?" Caspian asked as he peeked his head from around a tree.

"Yeah, it is. Yang just crushed that guy." I assured him as our little group formed up again. "Well, since we're done here, we should probably hurry to your house because I don't want anybody else catching onto us." The three of them nodded as we headed back to Caspian's house.

* * *

"What happened to you three?!" Arista exclaimed as she looked over every small injury we had.

"There was someone following us and he was going to kill us, but we beat him to the chase." Yang explained as she put a band-aid on a bleeding cut.

"Oh dear. That's not good." She said with a hand covering her mouth.

"It wasn't, but since the problem's gone, we should be safe." I said as I turned to go down to the basement. Blake and Yang followed my lead and headed downstairs with me.


End file.
